In Step

It was Christmas 2003. I was spending it in Paris with friends. We were walking along Avenue des Champs Élysees to do a campy tourist thing -- climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Our coats almost matched -- the same material, just a little different style. They were from the same boutique in Paris -- a place where you ring a bell and are escorted into an exclusive shop. I was told by my friend that I would be "sized-up" and then from a small door leading to an underground space the shopkeeper would disappear and reappear with just the perfect coat. Indeed, that is exactly what happened. And a few days later we picked up the coat and sashayed along the promenade, enjoying all that a Paris outing had to offer.

I took out the point and shoot and snapped this picture with the image firmly ingrained in my mind. She with her pointed toe shoe of the latest fashion and I, with practical clogs that made me look like a clog -- except for the coat. I loved the coat. I still love the coat. Seven years later it reminds me of this moment with my friend who would have celebrated her birthday today with the same zest for life as she lived everyday she was alive. I miss her. Not a day goes by that I don't think of what could have been had she lived. She left behind an incredible family and fabulous career that lives on with continued accolades to her accomplishments. Everyday I think about how I can live a life that strives to be as caring, supportive, and intelligent in an effort to make a contribution to this world. Everyday I think about my friend but especially today when we should have been celebrating another milestone of a life well lived. It was a life well lived -- it was just far too short.